Despite the efforts of CBC and APTN, most Canadians still are not aware of the lies and broken promises that dominate relations between indigenous peoples and the federal and provincial governments. Once again we have a royal couple making headlines with their visit to Canada, a favourite "colony", complete with dancing and costumed indigenous people entertaining at virtually every stop. Of note is the lack of protocol as the Prince does not acknowledge that he is on the traditional territory of an indigenous nation everywhere they go. This, despite the obvious effort to communicate a humble and sincere appreciation of Canadian people.
Most of the First Nations in Canada have signed treaties with the federal government, the representative of the Crown. Although the chiefs a century or more ago likely did not understand the fine print, they signed in good faith that these agreements would benefit their people. At the time of the signing, villages had been ravaged by small pox and alcohol, traditional and vital resources such as the buffalo, salmon, trees, and medicines were made unavailable by new federal and provincial laws. Spiritual and cultural practises essential to the good order of their communities were outlawed. Children were abducted and forced into confinement at Residential Schools. None of these treaties were honoured by the federal government. Reserves were made smaller when land was given to non-native veterans upon their return from WWII, entire communities forcibly removed from traditional territories for the convenience of corporations and utility companies. In most of Canada, land claims are just about trying to get the government to abide by these treaties. In Newfoundland, of course, there are no native people, as the Beothuks were all slaughtered when a bounty was offered ($5 per ear, as I understand).
In British Columbia, the majority of the province has no signed treaties. This means that the indigenous peoples, who can trace their roots through oral tradition and DNA evidence for 10,000 years and more, have been robbed of land, resources, and traditions. Governor Douglas, perhaps pressured by his native wife, did manage to get a couple of treaties signed during his tenure, but that is all. No other politician or bureaucrat bothered until recently. Now it is costing millions of dollars and the process is badly flawed. The Nisga people gave away 95% of their traditional territory in order to get a treaty signed before logging companies removed all the resources. This, after 100 years of trying. The first attempt involved several chiefs paddling down the coast to Victoria, donning suits, and marching up the steps of the legislative building. To no avail. They were turned away, so paddled back up the coast, presumably without the suits on. 100 years later, a descendant of one of those chiefs was a signatory to the new treaty. A few more have been signed since then.
My own father told me of a traumatic experience he had as a small child on the prairie in southern Alberta. As the son of a rancher, cooperation with the Blackfeet people was essential and resulted in a longstanding mutual respect between his family and their neighbours, especially the Crowfoot and Little Axe families. When just a small child, playing with his Blackfoot friends, Indian agents rode up on horseback and drove his friends to Residential School like a herd of cattle. A generation later tears still welled up when he spoke of this. In the early part of the 20th century, there were still buffalo wallows on the prairie; tall grasses hadn't been eliminated; wild flowers still grew. People chose to live in teepees and resisted the government's directive to stop their nomadic lifestyle, settle down and start farming. On treaty day, once per year, my Dad said that Blackfoot people would line up for their sack of potatoes and their $5 in treaty money. Today, many of these communities have been ravaged by the sudden relative wealth from oil exploration on reserves, which as we all know, is not always beneficial.
Few Canadians realize that South Africa modelled their apartheid system on Canada's reserve system, or that Indigenous people in Canada got the vote in the 60s, at different times in different provinces.
Today the internet is providing a forum for indigenous people in remote areas around the world to get information out. Today, the people in the boreal forest of northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories are being impacted by the appalling mess created by the tar sands development and they need our support. these links tell the story:
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2011/06/20116227153978324.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/05/201059193757125517.html
O.K., in most cases native people were not slaughtered outright in Canada, with few actual "Indian wars" fought. The Chilcotin war is an exception, with these formidable people putting a stop to a proposed road through their territory, one that was to carry miners to the gold fields in central B.C. Recently, those same people put a stop to a proposed mine that would have destroyed a lake they rely on for food. An elder in a wheel chair threatened to block the road crew, shotgun in hand, and she made it clear she had no qualms about dying in defence of her territory. Is this really what is necessary to stop this destruction?
Haida elders used similar techniques 20 years ago, without firearms, but by standing in the way of "progress", to protect the areas traditionally used for gathering food and medicines. They were successful in protecting South Moresby.
Rock on First Nations elders!
